Embodiments presented in this disclosure relate to memory management techniques. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to techniques for improving system efficiency by recycling segment pages while preserving integrity of memory addressing in an execution environment provided by an operating system.
In modern data processing systems, or computers, an operating system manages the distribution of system resources to one or more executing software applications. A fundamental component of operating systems is the operating system kernel, which provides software applications with secure access to the system resources. Processes running in user space do not have permission to utilize system resources on their own. Operating systems provide entry points through system calls, which may be implemented using software interrupts, that allow user-space processes to request services from the kernel. Thus, these processes make predefined calls to the operating system to request resources from the operating system. The processes may be configured to make calls directly or by making calls to an application program interface (API) that implements system calls. System calls and API calls may be implemented differently on various operating systems or on different versions of the same operating system.